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(No Model.)

J. HARRINGTON.

, GHIMING APPARATUS POR CLOCKS.

No. 372,849. Patented Nov. 8, 1887.

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lulllllllllm 70 il@ XgMM/r UNITED 'STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN HARRINGIIION, OF COVENTRY, COUNTY OF WARWICK, ENGLAND, AS- SIGNOR TO VALTER H. DURFEE, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

CHIMING APPARATUS FOR CLOCKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 372,849, dated November 8, 1887.

Application filed June 11, 1886. Serial No. 204,880. (No model.) Patented in England October 28, 1884, No. 14,270; in France May 23, 1885, No. 169,139, and in Belgium May 23, 1885, No. 68,994.

T @ZZ whom it may concern/.-

Be it known that I, JOHN HARRINGTON, of Coventry, county of Warwick, England, have invented an Improvement in Chiming Ap-paratus for Clocks, (the said invention having been patented in England under date of October 28, 1884, No. 14,270, and in France under date of May 23, 1885, No. 169,139, and in Belgium under date of May 23, 1885, No. 68,994,)

ro of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention has for its .object to improve Ir; the chiming apparatus of clocks, Ste., whereby metallic tubes may be employed instead of usual bells or gongs. I employ a series of metallic tubes, of different lengths, suspended or supported intermediate their ends, the varia- 2o tion in the length of the tubes affording difference in tone. In practice I prefer to suspend or sustain the tubes by a non-metallic strand, such as catgut, and the hammers employed to sound the tubes are arranged to strike them between their upper ends and their points of suspension, the hammers being actuated by or through a pattern or pin wheel or cylinder set in motion, preferably, by a timetrain or any usual part of a clock mechanism or by a 3o spring or weight.

My invention consists, essentially, in the combination, with a series of tubes, of a series of hammers, and a pattern or pin Wheel or cylinder to control the order of movement of the said hammers, constructed and arranged substantially as herein-after set forth and claimed.

Figure 1, in elevation, shows a sufficient portion of a chiming mechanism to illustrate one 4o embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2, a side elevation of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 a modification.

The frame-work A A, preferably of wood, is and may be of any suitable shape to sustain the parts' to be described and to lit within the clock or other case to contain the chiming apparatus.

The series of metallic tubes d to 7L, preferably ofthe same diameter but of Varying length, are suspended side by side a short distance 5c apart. To suspend or support these tubes I prefer to employ strands of catgut, or equivalent strong material, as at m, the said catgut being preferably passed through holes 2, more or less distant from the upper ends ofthe tubes, care being taken, however, that the said catgut, or other suspending or supporting cord, does not touch and thereby retard or check the vibration of the end of the tube above its point of suspension. 1

In practice I have found that the tone is "o clearer when the tubes are struck at a point above their points of suspension or between their points of suspension and their upper ends. I

To constitute a striking apparatus for the tubes, I have provided a series of hammers, a to L, each hammer consisting, essentially, ofa heavy head-as of lead covered with buckskin or leather or other soft material usually employed on hammers-the said heads being attached to arms a2 to hz, composed preferably of spiral springs, the normal position of the said springs and hammers being as shown in Fig. 2, the said flexible arms being sustained by a suitable crossbar.

The frame-work B has suitable stands, 3 3, which sustain a rod, 13, on which are loosely mounted a series of levers or fingers, 4, acted upon by suitable springs, 5, attached to a crossbar, 14, the upper ends of the said levers or fingers being attached by suitable cords, 6, to the hammers or their supportingarms, the springs 5 beingjust strong enough to cause the levers 4 to keep the strings 6 taut.

The lower ends of the levers or lingers 4 are acted upon at proper or desired intervals of time by pins or studs 7 on a pattern or pin wheel or cylinder, 8, the shaft of which near one end has attached to it a pinion, 9, which is engaged by a gear, 10, on a shaft, l2,which in practice will preferably be rotated at the desired speed by or through a clock-train of any usual construction,. or by an ordinary clock-spring in the hub or drum 18, in which event the wheel 10 would be loose on the shaft and the inner end of the spring fast to the shaft, the pins or projections 7 being so set as to come into operation against the levers 4, in the desired time and order, to sound a chime embracing a greater or less number of notes, the order of moving the hammers to produce the chime varying with the chime to be pro- IOO duced, the pins or projections 7 being set to produce any particular chime desired.

XVhenever a pin or projection 7 meets the lower end ofone of the levers 4, the lever is turned on its fulcrum, causing the cord or connector 6 to pull back, away from the tube eppositeit, the spring-arm to which the said cord is attached; but as soon as the pin or projection passes the end of the said lever the springarm carrying the hammer is suddenly released, permitting the hammer to assume its normal position, and in so doing the force due to the weight ofthe hammer carried at the top of the spring results in the hammer striking the tube near its end, thus causing it to vibrate and give out a musical tone or a sound of a particular tone.

I do not desire or intend to limit my invention t0 any particular i'orm of hammer-actuating mechanism, asit is obvious that various other i'orms of such devices might be substituted lfor the devices shown.

As herein shown, the cylinder 8 has at one end a pin, l5, which is acted upon by a lever, 16, the said lever serving as a detent to prevent the rotation of the cylinder, except when it is desired that it should rotate to sound a chime, in which case the lever IG will be turned through the rod 22,connccted with any moving part ofthe clock-train.

I have shown the lever and pin as it would be used only when the cylinderS is turned directly by a spring in the liub 1S.

By striking the tubes above their points of suspension undue swaying o" the tubes is obviated.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a modiiication of my invention, wherein the hammer is attached to a chain, in, another cliaiu, ont, being shown, which will be connected with a suitable lever or inger to be moved by a pattern or pin wheel, the chain m* taking the place of the cord G.

rlhe lower portion of the tubes may, if desired, be supported near their ends, as described or practiccd,at or near the upper ends of the tubes.

I do not desire to limit my invention to the particular hammer-carrying arms shown,or to the particular shape ofthe levers 4L; land instead I may employ any usual springs or levers commonly employed in clock mechanism to strike the hour.

I have herein shown a series of metallic tubes suspended from one end, the said tubes being employed in connection with a series of hammers, which are automatically operated, butI do not herein claim, broadly, a single suspended metallic tube as a substitute for a bell or gong, or one or a series of tubes separated lroni automatic means for actuating the hammer or hammers to strike thein,as such tubes, used singly or in a series and suspended by a flexible connection or support, so as not to interfere with their sonorous vibration when struck by a hammer manipulated by hand, form the subj ect-matter of my application filed October l0, 1887, Serial No. 251,912.

I claiml. In a chiming mechanism, a series of metallic tubes suspended from one eud,combined with a series of hammers to strike the said tubes, substantially as described.

2. A series of metallic tubes suspended from their upper ends, as described, combined with a series of hammers and with a pattern-surface having pins or projections to operate the said hammers, substantially as described.

3. The series oftubes of different lengths and suspended, as described, side by side, cornbined with a series of hammers arranged to strike the said tubes between their upper ends and their points of suspension, substantially as described.

4. In a chiming mechanism, a metal tube suspended from one end, combined with a hammer to strike the said tube, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JGHN IIARRINGTON.

Witnesses:

C. M. Conn, F, CUTTER. 

